Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Great to be with you all this morning.
If you're visiting with us, my name is Brian Miller and I serve
on staff doing college ministry here.
We'd love to meet you after the service, answer any questions
you might have just here. What brought you to our church
this morning? If you have your copy of God's
Word, let's open together to the book of First Peter, First
Peter, chapter one, please. And if you don't have a Bible
with you, you can raise your hand.
Keep it high. Michael would love to bring you
a Bible. A couple of hands up there
Micah. If newer to the Bible, the book
of first Peter is going to be towards the very end is a couple
books before Revelation. What a little over a month.
On July 4th, our nation will celebrate 250 years, 250 years,
July 4th, 1776 to July 4th, 2026.
It's a great accomplishment for our nation.
Look forward to celebrating together as a country this
summer. I've always loved studying the
history of our country, which is as you guys know, goes back much
further than 1776. And one of the stories that I
loved as a kid was the story of the Mayflower and the Pilgrims,
a classic. On 6th September 6th, 1620, a
group of over 100 people, most of whom were Protestants,
English Puritans, boarded the Mayflower and prepared to set
sail across the Atlantic Ocean. But this would not be just any
casual boat ride. This trip was going to be over
two months at sea. They would face life threatening
disease that could spread to the passengers, dangerous storms.
They would be seasick. And you know, if you're on a
boat for two months, there's nowhere you can go.
This would be a dangerous journey.
Well, why'd they do it? Why risk your life and the life
of your family members and endure such a hard journey?
You probably know the answer. The Pilgrims were seeking a
better homeland. They were spiritual exiles back
in England. They were unwilling to practice
their faith freely. So they set sail, and they
wanted to come to a better world.
They were willing to endure numerous hardships in order to
get there. This morning we begin a new
series in the Book of First Peter, which myself and some
other brothers in the church we'll be preaching through, I
think about over the next year periodically, as Michael is out
of the pulpit. The Book of First Peter is
written to exiles, to pilgrims, to Christians who have come to
realize that this current world is not their home.
They're not ultimately welcome here.
So when we've come to faith in Jesus Christ, we've got on that
boat, we've set sail across the Atlantic and we're journeying
towards a heavenly homeland. Here's the larger question that
first Peter is going to address. How are Christians to live on
their journey home? This morning we tackle the
opening chapter 1 verses one through 12 here where the Holy
Spirit says through the Apostle Peter first Peter one one
through 12 Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are
elect exiles of the dispersion and Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to
Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood, may grace and
peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for
you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for
a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the
tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold
that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to
result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Though you have not seen Him,
you love Him. Though you do not now see Him,
you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible
and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the
salvation of your souls. Well, concerning this salvation,
the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be
yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person
or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating.
When he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent
glories, it was revealed to them that they were serving not
themselves, but you. In the things that have now been
announced to you through those who preach the good news to you
by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Things into which angels long to look.
How are Christians to live on their journey home?
He would seem in Peter's opening address.
He doesn't really answer that question, at least not yet, and
not directly. Glance over the book of first
Peter with me. Quickly flip through the pages.
Peter later in chapters one and two, he's going to tell
Christians how to live as the church.
In chapters 2 and three, he's going to tell Christians how
they are to live as citizens, as employees, as husband, as as
wives. At the end of chapter 3, heading
into four, how Christians are supposed to suffer and how we
are to steward God's gifts in the church.
In chapter 5, he closes the book addressing elders and even
telling us how we are to fight and resist Satan.
There are tons of applications in this book on how to live on
our journey home, but that isn't Peter's concern yet as he begins
the letter. Let's go back to chapter 1,
verses one through 12. There are 0 commands in in
verses one through 12. No direct exhortations, but a
whole lot of praise. Praise for what?
For their glorious salvation, Peter uses the word salvation
explicitly 3 times. Look at verse 5A salvation ready
to be revealed, verse 9 the salvation of your souls, and
verse 10 concerning this salvation.
But the rest of the section is jam packed with other references
to their salvation. In fact, of all the Bible speaks
about being saved, nearly all the terminology is used in this
passage, either directly or by illusion.
These Christians are elect, they're sanctified, obedient,
sprinkled, born again, your inheritance, your faith, the
revelation of Jesus Christ, the outcome of your faith, the grace
that is now yours, the things that are announced to you, the
good news that is preached to you.
Peter in our verses is going to ground everything he's about to
say. These are like exiles based on
their glorious salvation. This is what drives the rest of
the letter. This is what suffering Exiles
need to remember on their journey home.
Though you face various trials, you have a glorious salvation.
That's our main idea for us as Exiles this morning.
You face various trials, but you have a glorious salvation. 4
points as we walk through the passage.
Your glorious salvation is 4 things.
Number one, it's chosen by God #2 it's caused by God #3 it's
tested by God #4 it's a privilege from God.
Your glorious salvation is chosen by God, caused by God,
tested by God, a privilege from God.
Let's tie down with .1. Your glorious salvation is
chosen by God verses one and two.
Well, verse one tells us clearly that Peter the Apostle wrote the
letter. Apostles were sent once who
spoke the authoritative words of Jesus Christ.
They'd seen Jesus Christ risen from the dead in the flesh.
Peter was one of the original 12 disciples and in many ways he
was closest to Jesus. He was the leader of the 12.
And look who he writes to to the elect exiles of the Dispersion
and Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
This is a Gentile region. These are mainly Gentile
churches scattered throughout Asia Minor, which is basically
modern day Turkey. Now this phrase, he uses the
dispersion or some translations may say the scattered ones or of
the diaspora. This was often a term used to
describe Jews who live outside of Israel, outside of Palestine
after the Babylonian exile. But Peter here is writing to
Gentiles. He's writing to Gentiles for a
part of the new covenant, people of God, Jew and Gentile, united
by faith in Jesus Christ. He's using the phrase here
metaphorically. These aren't literal exiles
kicked out of somewhere on earth, but spiritual exiles who
are living away from their heavenly homeland temporarily.
They're pilgrims. They're sojourners.
The church for now is a dispersed people, a suffering
people without a home in this current world.
And so Peter is going to remind these people with no home in
this world of who they really are.
They are, verse one, elect. This is quite the introduction
from Peter, quite a dense and theologically lofty introduction
if there ever was one. Peter's going to highlight four
aspects of their election in verse 2.
They are elect according to the Father's foreknowledge.
They are elect in the sanctification of the Spirit.
They are elect for obedience to Jesus Christ.
They are elect for sprinkling with His blood.
We're going to unpack these in a minute, But first, to be elect
in the Bible, it just means you've been chosen to be saved.
You've been handpicked by God for salvation.
Christians first. God chose you according to His
foreknowledge. God doesn't choose sinners based
on our own knowledge or based on our own choice, but based on His
own knowledge, based on His own covenant of love He sets on a
people before the dawn of time. That's what's meant here by
foreknowledge. Of course God knows all things
ahead of time, but what's being emphasized here is not that God
knows what you and I will choose, but that He knows you.
God set His covenant love on you and chose you before time began.
Everyone who is elect is foreknown by the Father.
Christians. God chose you to be sanctified
in the Holy Spirit. Now if you're new to
Christianity, this word sanctified just means set apart
for God or devoted to God. So when God saves sinners, He
sets them apart and they belong to Him.
And now you begin your journey of becoming less like your old
self and more like Jesus Christ. So everyone who is elect has
been set apart by or in the Holy Spirit.
Christians, God also chose you for obedience to Jesus Christ.
You've obeyed the initial gospel call to come follow him with
your life. And everyone who is elect
continues to obey Jesus Christ with their lives.
Lastly, Christians, God says you were chosen for sprinkling with
the blood of Jesus Christ. Another term here you may not be
familiar with if you're new to Christianity.
Well, and under the old covenant, when it was
inaugurated in Exodus 24, Moses sacrificed an animal and
sprinkled the people with blood. It represented their cleansing
from sin. But now Peter saying in a far
greater way, Christians have entered the new covenant through
the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, everyone who is elect has been cleansed
of their sin, sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus Christ,
Praise the Lord. This is Peter's comfort to
suffering Christians, no matter what their status on earth is,
no matter what your status on earth is this morning, you know,
persecuted, weird people who are just behind the times, what
matters most is your heavenly status.
You are chosen, loved, a child of God, destined for heaven.
God chooses us and then we receive all the wonderful
benefits of this salvation. God doesn't choose anyone based
on their own performance. Well, the NFL draft happened
recently, but really, this is true for any draft, MLBNBA and
before. As teams are approaching the
draft, we'll have a big draft for it with hundreds of
prospects on there, obviously ranked near the top.
Are the people they want most for their team?
They're asking what are the needs of our team?
Do we need a center? Do we need a guard?
Do we need an outfielder? The teams aren't doing you a
favor when they pick you. They're saying you can perform
for us. You can make us some money, so
we'll choose you based on what you can do.
But that's not how election works.
In the Bible, God chooses no one because of what you can do for
him. As sinners, that would be
nothing. We can do nothing for the holy,
righteous, sovereign God of the universe.
He doesn't choose any of us based on our own performance,
but based on His love for us. God chooses you because He loves
you and then you get all the glorious benefits.
We declared some of these benefits earlier in our
statement of faith. If you have your bulletin, look
back on page 4 real quick flip back there.
We declared that God eternally chose some persons.
We declared that election. Here's the application for us
extinguishes boasting. It fuels humility.
It cultivates love. You know it's hard to be
prideful when you realize you aren't chosen because you were
so good. You were chosen because God
loved you and said His love on you.
Well, election also fosters prayer, fuels evangelism, and
solidifies trust in those who are His.
This is a great truth that the way God brings his elect to
salvation is through the fervent prayers of you in this room.
The way God saves his elect is through you and I going out and
desperately pleading with sinners to come to faith in
Christ, of sharing the gospel. And all those who he elect will
he will persevere till the end. What a gift the doctrine of
election is. This is the glory of salvation
God has chosen us for. And so in verse 2 to these elect
exiles, Peter says, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.
And grace and peace will certainly mark a church that has
been the recipients of God's incredible grace and salvation.
Well, that's merely 1 aspect of salvation that Peter has
highlighted so far. Our election.
But now he's going to launch into praise when he considers
more of all that God has done for us.
So point #2 your glorious salvation is caused by God.
It's caused by God. Verses 3 to 5 Look at verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. It's just true that when you
reflect on this glorious salvation, when you hear of
this, you can't help but launch in the praise.
A saved people are always a praising people in the Bible.
And today Peter says that God has caused us to be born again.
He describes salvation in the same way that Jesus Christ did.
Joe read this earlier for us from John chapter 3.
Jesus tells Nicodemus, a religious leader, that unless
you were born again, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.
In other words, unless you're born again, you won't be saved.
So Nicodemus, like all of us, if we heard this for the first
time, we'd be like, OK, I've got to go back into my mother's
womb. This is new.
Jesus is not talking about physical birth, but spiritual
rebirth. And Peter knows what all of us
in this room know this morning. Here are two of the most obvious
facts I could tell you today #1 every single person in this room
has been born #2 not a single one of us in this room caused
ourselves to be born. Birth is something that
obviously happens to us in the same way.
None of us 'cause ourselves to be born spiritually as sinners,
were born spiritually dead. We're not born sick in need of
medicine. We're born dead and needing of
resuscitation. We aren't born drowning in the
sea, needing a life raft. We're at the bottom of the
ocean, already dead, needing Jesus Christ to swim down there,
take us up the shore and revive us.
Salvation is God's work. He has caused us to be born
again. How is this possible?
Verse 3, It's through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Jesus Christ paid for our sins
on the cross. He took him to the grave, and he
rose three days later on Sunday. And because you're united to
Jesus Christ, his resurrection guarantees your resurrection.
You've been raised to new life now spiritually if you're a
Christian, and you'll be raised to new life one day on that
final day when you're given a perfect resurrected body.
This is our glory of salvation. But there's more.
Look at verses 3 to 5. Here's what the resurrection
also guarantees that we have. Verse 3A, living hope.
Verse 4, an inheritance. Verse 5A, salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. Christians have a living hope
because Jesus is alive in heaven right now.
Our eternal life is secured. There could be no more sure
foundation to build your life on them in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead. Christians are also guaranteed
an inheritance in verse four. That term inheritance now is
hugely significant. In the Old Testament.
God promised the people of Israel that they would have the
land of Canaan as their inheritance says in Exodus that
Israel is God's first born son. The first one is the heir.
The heir is the inheritance. Inheritance in the Old Testament
equaled earthly land of Israel. But what Peter has in mind here
is something far more glorious than any piece of land on earth.
It's what the land of Israel always intended to point to, the
glorious, forever heavenly homeland.
Look at how Peter describes this inheritance in verse 4.
It's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
Brothers and sisters, Peter is saying your heavenly inheritance
is far more glorious than anything on earth.
Everything on earth will perish, will fade, will be defiled
ultimately. Recently a member of our family
went to Fleet Feet to get some new shoes.
This is great. The member of the family gets
some Hokas. The Hokas get brought home.
The Hokas are white and shiny, but then they say hey, you know
the The worker in the store said for only $10 extra I could buy a
stain free spray to spray on my Hokas.
And they spray the shoes in there and they just leave them
overnight for 24 hours. And if you put this spray on the
shoes, the Hookahs will never be staying for the rest of your
life. Wow, this is great.
This is like a a $10,000 deal for only 10 bucks shoes that
even if you're walking through grass and mud and dirt will
never be staying. Hallelujah.
Well, the shoes have been in our home for a couple weeks and the
Hookahs are staying. Why are they staying?
Because there's no such thing as a stain free spray for anything.
No earthly treasure is unstainable.
No house, no car, no anything. Everything on earth will
ultimately fade, but there is an inheritance that is
imperishable, undefiled, unstainable, unfading, waiting
for every believer in heaven. How is this so?
It's because this beautiful verse, a beautiful truth in
verse 4. It's because your inheritance is
kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded
through faith for salvation to be revealed in the last time.
God protects his elect the way an elite military team protects
a soldier. They're extracting from behind
enemy lines. You are being guarded by God.
You can't ultimately be touched. Neither can your inheritance.
But notice how Peter tells us God guards us.
We still have a crucial role to play.
God guards through faith. Now, faith is first a a gift
that he gives to his people, a conversion in order to be saved.
But we still must exercise it. We must fan it into flame.
We must maintain our faith. God preserves his elect through
means, so it's true. But not a single one of God's
people will lose their inheritance.
Period. It's also true that we must
persevere in faith if we're to have that ultimate salvation in
the end. We're saved right now, but
there's a salvation we need to persevere and strive for.
That's what Peter says at the end of verse 5.
You've been born again for a salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time. Remember what Jesus said.
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
And the answer is yes, he will. All of God's elect will have
faith on that final day. Brothers and sisters, I wonder
if you've ever struggled to really believe this, If you've
ever struggled to believe you're really saved, that you're really
kept by God, that you're really going to be found faithful on
that last day. That's you this morning.
Just want to point you back to verses one through 5 really
quick. Just show you and remind you of
the one who is doing all the action here to save in this
passage and it's sustained. It's God.
God elects, God sanctifies, God sprinkles, God is merciful, God
causes, God keeps, God guards. If you're struggling with
assurance, First off, this is a very normal thing to go through
as a Christian. But remember, salvation is God's
work. He has done all of us for you in
your job, and my job is to believe Him.
Have faith. God's job is to guard you.
Your job is to keep your hope on that eternal inheritance that is
kept for you. God's job is to guard you and
make sure you get there safely. And remember, all of us, what
guarantees all the benefits of this great salvation is the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the great.
The resurrection is the the linchpin for this whole passage.
You take out the resurrection here and all these glorious
truths follow like dominoes. There's no being born again.
There's no living hope. There's no inheritance.
There's no ultimate salvation. There is no Christianity of
Jesus Christ and not raised from the dead.
But Jesus Christ did raise from the grave.
Hallelujah. So those of you who aren't
Christians here this morning, I just have to ask that after
hearing all about the salvation for about 20 minutes or so,
don't you want this? Don't you want to be saved?
Do you know why you need to be saved?
Well, you need to be saved because on your own you'll
remain dead in your sins, destined for help.
But you've just heard this morning about a man who paid for
sins on the cross. On your own, you'll only ever
have a dead hope. Listen, you want to have a dead
hope in life, and you set your faith on dead men.
All the religious leaders of the past, Confucius, Buddha,
Muhammad, Joseph Smith, all dead men who have stayed in the
tombs. All the great religious leaders,
political leaders, kings, world entrepreneurs, health gurus,
athletes, all men who have died and remain in the tombs or will
die and stay in those tombs. But you have heard this morning
about a man who rose from the grave, who is alive in heaven
right now. His name is Jesus Christ.
He stands ready from heaven to save you.
If you had just repented your sins and put your faith in in
him, you can be born again. He died for sinners on the
cross, doing everything necessary to save them, paying
their debt. Then he rose from the grave
three days later and he said, here's the receipt.
You owe nothing. You get everything.
Friends, do you want to be saved this morning?
Then believe in Jesus Christ and everything in this passage is
yours. Church family, we must never
stop praising God for this glorious salvation we have in
Jesus Christ. He's caused it, He's guarding
it, and because He loves you, He's going to test it.
Point #3 Your salvation is tested by God.
It's tested by God. Verses 6 through 9.
Look at verse 6. In this you rejoice, though now
for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved
by various trials. Peter says something
interesting. These elect exiles are rejoicing
and also grieving. They're rejoicing because of the
glorious inheritance that awaits them, and yet they're grieved
because the road to get there is one of suffering.
So here's the paradox of the Christian life.
You've got agony now, you've got glory, then you've got the
cross, now you've got the crown, then you've got temporary trials
now, but you have eternal treasure.
Then why? Why does God save us and then
afflict us and put us through the fire?
Well, Peter tells us with an illustration, verse 7.
He compares and contrasts genuine faith with gold.
The illustration works like this.
Just as gold is tested by fire, so to your faith is tested by
trial. So when gold is put under
extreme heat, the impurities or the drops as we sang later, to
help firm a foundation, thy draws to consume thy gold to
refine. The impurities of the gold rise
to the top and are discarded, but the pure metal is preserved
and refined. In the same way, trials reveal
what sin is in our hearts. It bubbles them up to the
surface so that we can get rid of them.
And yet our our faith is strengthened.
Our fleshly fat is trimmed off. Our spiritual muscles grow
stronger. Our hope in the Lord endures.
But here's the contrast. Here's how your genuine faith is
not like gold. Gold, as precious as it is, is
still perishable. But genuine faith is not.
Genuine faith is not perishable. Now think about it.
The things that are precious to us in life, we typically don't
want to put those things in fire.
I'm thinking of the things right now in my mind.
I don't want those things going through intense heat.
But that's not so with God and His wisdom and His love.
God loves you so much, cares about your faith, standing firm
on that final day so much, that He's going to test you in His
love and wisdom. He deems it necessary to put you
through the furnace of affliction for a little while.
Look at that phrase Peter uses in verse 6.
If necessary. If necessary, you have been
grieved by various trials. I don't think Peter's saying
that it's necessary that some suffer and others don't.
The rest of the Bible clearly teaches that all Christians
suffer. But I think he's saying that
it's not necessary for all Christians to suffer in the same
way. In his love and his wisdom for
you this morning, for some of you, God says if necessary,
you're going to suffer in this way.
For others of you, God has said if necessary, you're going to
suffer in that way. No2 Christian sufferings are
alike in this world. All of us in this room right now
are facing various kinds of trials.
Trials related to your job, your family.
Trials related to motherhood, to fatherhood, to pregnancy to
birth. Trials of grueling, unexplained
health problems. The trials of losing a loved
one. The trials that come of old age.
The trials that come with singleness, the trials of
infertility. Some Christians around the world
face greater physical persecution for their faith.
Others of you in this room are facing societal pressures to
compromise on biblical values. In all of these different for
each of you. God is testing our faith,
refining our faith. He has said I love you and it's
necessary that you suffer in this way.
Don't compare your suffering to another brother or sister in the
body. God says this is necessary for
you, child of God. So how can we as a church help
each other remain faithful through various trials?
Well, we can remind each other of what Peter reminds these
Christians of. He says in verse 6, our trials
are only for a little while, like sitting on the runway
waiting for the plane to take off.
Like counting down the days to your wedding, Like waiting for
school to get out for the summer church.
Remind each other that though you're grieving now, that those
some of you have been suffering the same trial for months and
years, perhaps decades. It's just for a little while
longer. You just have to hold on by
faith for a little while longer. We've already seen that, Peter
says. Trials refine our faith.
Ask each other what sin has got exposed in your heart through
this trial. How is he refining you?
How is God growing your faith? Are there any ways you're
doubting God's character and God's goodness?
And then remind each other of God's character and God's
goodness. But lastly, Peter does something
something else to comfort these suffering Christians.
I think this is the best thing we can do when we're going
through trials. Peter points them to the return
of Jesus Christ and the reward that you'll receive on that
final day. Look at verses 7 and 9.
He says our trials result in praise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen
Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him,
you believe in Him and rejoice with joy.
That is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the
outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
A little over a month ago, NASA sent 4 astronauts on the Artemis
2 mission out of our atmosphere around the dark side of the
moon. Never been done before.
And back to Earth. No human beings have traveled
further in space. I was really into this.
You can ask Michelle. I think space travel, it's
fascinating how we were able to do this.
Well, of course space travel is very dangerous.
There's a lot of things that could go wrong.
But one of the things during this mission that was
particularly making NASA feel anxious was the heat shield.
Now the heat shield is really all that stands in between are
those astronauts and 20 to 25,000 Fahrenheit degree heat.
As they come back and re enter the Earth's atmosphere.
They re enter the Earth's atmosphere like a ball of fire.
Why did it make them nervous? Well, a couple years prior,
during Artemis One, which was a test run with no human beings on
board, the heat shield revealed some flaws, had some cracks.
Obviously this is a huge deal. The value of these astronaut
lives on board is so high, so precious, they can't risk this
heat shield not holding up on that final mission.
So what did they do? Well, I read that over just a
couple years this heat shield was obviously fixed and improved
and then they tested it over 1000 tons at that 20,000°F.
He they tested it and tested it and tested it because it could
not fail. Those astronauts lives were too
valuable. Of course they landed back in
the ocean and there was praise and there was great joy.
The heat shield held up well. Brothers and sisters, the same
is true of your faith. You making it to heaven.
You having eternal life with God is so precious to Him that for
now he's going to test you and test you and test you over and
over again so that on that final day you stand before him so that
your faith is proven genuine and you receive the outcome you've
been longing for. The ultimate salvation of your
soul, the praise and glory and honor that will come from the
lips, lips of your Savior when he says, well done, good and
faithful servant, intern of the joy of your master or the glory,
the eternal weight of glory that'll make your trials when
you look back on them seem light and momentary.
Or the honor of the Kingdom that you'll inherit, the Kingdom that
Jesus says I've been preparing for you since the foundation of
the world. And Peter knows, and God knows
that in the midst of trials, it's hard to remain faithful to
Jesus Christ, whom you can't see right now and whom you've never
seen. We have something in common with
these Christians here. Peter's writing to, not with
Peter himself, because he saw Jesus Christ.
But none of us have seen Jesus Christ in the flesh.
It's hard to remain focused on the heavenly homeland we haven't
been to and never seen before. But Peter says that in verses
8:00 and 9:00, that the belief you have in Jesus, the love you
have for him, the inexpressible joy and glory in your heart has
never been based on physical sight.
Seeing is not believing, Friends, this joy and glory.
It's based on hope, a living hope that the promises of God
are true. He came to earth to save you.
He's waiting to call you home one day.
And you see Him right now by faith.
One day soon, when you see Him by sight, you'll know you'll
have that inexpressible joy forever.
Remember church, these Christians in Peter's letter
that we're reading about, they suffer some hard things for a
little while, but they've been in glory for over 2000 years.
That's one way we can endure through trials, by remembering
Christians of the past. That's really what Peter wants
these Christians to do. At verses 10 through 12, as he
closes his opening point #4 your glorious salvation is a
privilege from God. It's a privilege from God.
Look at verse 10 concerning this salvation.
The prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be
yours searched and acquired carefully, inquiring what what
person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating.
When he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent
glories, it was revealed to them that they were serving not
themselves, but you. And the things that have now
been announced to you through those who preach the good news
to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Things into which angels long to look.
There's a lot here, but Pierre reminds these suffering
Christians, as he closes his opening, of the incredible
privilege they have to live at this point in salvation history.
The faithful Jewish prophets of old, these giants of the faith,
searched and inquired carefully. They labored, they intensely
sought these things out. The grace that was going to be
yours, the grace that these Jewish prophets would not
receive in their day that was going to bless future
generations of Gentiles. Peter doesn't say, but he's got
to be thinking about the prophet Daniel, who labored hard to
understand the prophecies he received.
But God said, Daniel, it's not for you seal it up.
It's for a later generation. He's got to be thinking about
Isaiah in that glorious prophecy of the suffering servant, Isaiah
52 and 53, the servant who would be cut off for the sins of his
people, but then raised again the glory and see his offspring.
Now, there are things we don't know about these prophets
specifically. We don't know how much they knew
exactly. We don't know certain natures of
the specifics. And yet Peter tells us that they
knew a lot. He tells us clearly, clearly the
things in these Old Testament prophets knew.
They knew they were speaking on behalf of God.
Look at verse 11. It was the Spirit of Christ in
them. The prophets were not just
throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.
They knew they were speaking the authoritative, inerrant words of
God inspired by the Holy Spirit. They also knew that there would
be a Messiah who would suffer and then be raised to glory.
Verse 11. They knew a Messiah would suffer
to pay for sins, and then they knew about his future glories,
that he'd be risen from the great, that he'd reign over
God's Kingdom forever. But while they knew there would
be a Messiah, they didn't know the exact person or time.
They knew there would be a who. They didn't know who it would be
exactly. They knew there would be an
appointed time. They didn't know at what exact
time that would be. Here's one more thing Peter
says. They did know.
They knew it would not happen in their day.
They knew these prophecies weren't for them to see on
earth, but for the Christians in Peter's letter to see.
There were four them. Verse 12.
It was revealed to them, to these prophets, that they were
serving not themselves, but you, brothers and sisters, the great
Old Testament prophets of old. Thousands of years ago.
They had you and mine as they were prophesying these things,
working hard so that you could enjoy the great privilege of
your salvation. Some of you may have heard your
parents or grandparents say something like this.
Or maybe you tell your kids this.
No kids, your great grandparents worked hard so that you could
enjoy the privileges you have today.
And that's true. We have parents and grandparents
that work very hard to have us enjoy far greater experiences
and privileges that they did well.
The same is true of us spiritually, our spiritual
grandparents thousands of years ago, who of course we will never
meet, not yet at least. They worked hard so that we
could experience the great privilege of this salvation.
Friends, living on this side of the cross is such a gift.
The Bible you hold in your laps, the 66 books, the complete
Canon. What a gift that we can reflect
back on all of God's words, all of God's work.
We have the full gospel. We have personal relationships
with Jesus Christ that we've seen by faith.
And the same gospel that Peter says was announced and preached
to the Christians in his day is the same gospel that we get to
hear preached from this pulpit Sunday after Sunday.
It's the same gospel that we get to go out and announce to a
dying world. What a privilege of our
salvation. It's so glorious that even
angels want in on the action. Even angels long to see it.
Angels in verse 12 are like a ball boy who wants so badly to
get in the game, but it's never going to happen.
These powerful, heavenly, mighty creatures who are in the throne
room of God day and night, they want so badly to get subbed into
the game of salvation, but they never will.
Angel do not experience saving grace.
Angels may be greater in power, but you, Christian, have the
greater privilege. The point Peter is making is
this. Even though you are a suffering
people, you are a privileged people.
Though you face various trials, you have a glorious salvation,
the great privilege of the salvation.
Jesus said that many prophets and righteous people longed to
see the things that you see but didn't see, to hear the things
that you hear but didn't hear them.
Many people long for it. Peter says that angels long for
it. Peter says that angels stand in
all of your salvation. The question is, do you, do you
stand in all of this glorious salvation we've just heard
proclaimed this morning? Would your life show that you
value it, that it's your priority to grow in the
knowledge of God and all that he's done to save you, to
proclaim it? This is our glorious salvation,
the salvation that God has caused, that God chose you for,
that God is guarding and keeping for us.
You know, only one person died on that Mayflower journey across
the Atlantic. Only one person.
There actually was one baby born.
I read. All but one made it there safely
after two months at sea. But then about half of them died
the first winter. The New World was great in many
ways, but it wasn't the homeland many of them expected.
Believers, your ultimate homeland is not found in this
world. It's not in the United States.
It's not in any other country. You are in exile here.
You are a foreigner bound for heaven.
Even though you don't belong here, you belong somewhere.
You belong to God. He chose you before the world
began. He's given you new life today, a
living hope. And even in the midst of trials
that you're aggrieved by, you can set your hope on heaven.
You can set your hope on Jesus Christ, 'cause you're going to
be with Him soon. We have set out on this journey
across the sea, and one day we'll arrive on the shores of
glory. Praise the Lord for this
glorious salvation. Amen.
Let's pray. Oh God, we bless you and praise
you for saving us, for giving us reason to rejoice in the midst
of trials that grieve us, for giving us the hope of heaven.
Oh God, I pray that because we are a saved people, we will be
appraising people. I pray that though we're
afflicted with many trials, we help each other endure.
We'd all look forward to that great day, but we'll obtain the
outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.
It's in Jesus name that we worship you and praise you for
this. Amen.